Astana (Kazakhstan): Young shuttler Anmol Kharb continued to impress as she progressed to the women's singles quarterfinals along with four other Indians at the Kazakhstan International Challenge here on Thursday. Besides Anmol, in-form Devika Sihag, former national champion Anupama Upadhaya, seventh seed Tanya Hemanth and Isharani Baruah also entered the last 8 in women's singles.
Reigning senior national champion Anmol, who played a pivotal role in the Indian women's team winning an unprecedented gold at the Badminton Asia Team Championships in February, beat UAE's Nurani Ratu Azzahra 21-11 21-7 in the second round. The 17-year-old Anmol will face Japan's Sorano Yoshikawa next. Sihag, who won two international challenge titles out of the four finals that she reached this season, outwitted fourth-seeded Azerbaijan's Keisha Fatimah Azzahra 21-12 21-12 to set up a meeting with compatriot Anupama, who beat Czech Republic's fifth seed Tereza Vabikova.
Seventh seed Tanya saw off Israel's Ksenia Polikarpova 21-11 21-18 and will next square off against fellow Indian Isharani, who accounted for New Zealand's Tiffany Ho 21-10 20-14. Sihag won the Swedish Open and Portugal International while finishing runner-up at Estonian International and Dutch International.